All is Fair....

Post dinnertime, when Jasper was still in good health, he often enjoyed chewing a bone. Cosmo, seeing Jasper’s enjoyment, would then seek to steal it away.

But no fight ever ensued.

Cosmo would simply lie nose to nose with Jasper in silence. And the second Jasper was distracted or came up for a breath of air, Cosmo would stealthily snag the bone and slink away.

Jasper, aged and with impaired eyesight, was left bewildered by the disappearance of his calciferous treat. Telepathically I could hear him say Where the hell did my bone go?

When I said my final good byes to my girls when I dropped them off at college, I did not head directly home. I always left the next day. This was done on the advice of more seasoned parents. The theory was that sometimes a child realized too late that they needed something they had no access to purchase. And so the parents could make a final rescue.

And the morning after I kissed Briana goodbye in Lewisburg Pennsylvania my husband and I had breakfast at the Country Kitchen—a restaurant which lies in the rear of a very very large country store. And it was while walking about the store that something caught my eye—a 24 inch stuffed Golden Retriever that I knew Briana would fall in love with. It would be a parting gift. The problem was it was the only stuffed Golden Retriever in the store—and it happened to be in the arms of a sweet 4 year old girl walking with her mother.

And so I stalked the little girl—watching and waiting. I also eavesdropped on her conversation which at some point went something like this: Mommy can I have him please?—he’s sooo soft. And the mother replied Okay-- but not now—I will get it for you when we are done with breakfast. Put the dog in the basket over there. He will be safe for now—I promise.

And the minute the little girl turned her back, I swooped in and headed for the cash register.

I never turned back.

My little girl needed that pup much more than a 4 year old.

It is six years later and that stuffed Golden Retriever still sleeps in bed every night with my sweet Briana.

I have no clue as to the fate of that little girl.

Because Cosmo and I are cut from the same cloth. We understand that growling and aggressive behavior may not be as productive as silent prey. Timing is everything--you snooze, you lose. All is fair in love and war.

And opportunism is just a synonym for peaceful combat.